Lynch to visit Dover to assess damage, outages, road closures

DOVER – Governor John Lynch will visit today at 1:30 p.m. to assess damage done to the area.

Crews continue to respond to requests for assistance in Hurricane Sandy cleanup today, caring for loose tree branches and debris and fallen trees.

The following roads remain closed as of 12:30 p.m. today: 134 Mount Vernon St. to Abbott Street, Oak Street from Portland Avenue to Atlantic Avenue, Tolend Road from Dean Drive to French Cross Road, 25 Sunset Drive to Cataract Avenue, a portion of Glen Hill Road is reduced to one lane, Nute Road, Oak Street closed from Coolidge Avenue to Park Street, Garrison Road from Back River Road to Morningside Drive, Chestnut Street from Orchard Street to First Street and a portion of French Cross Road.

City Manager Michael Joyal reported Monday night that a large tree fell and damaged a home on French Cross Road and a tree that fell on Oak Street damaged parked vehicles. A light pole was dislodged along the Chestnut Street bridge causing the street to close by the bridge until the scene is cleared. No injuries related to the storm have been reported.

As of noon on Tuesday, 12% of Dover PSNH customers were without power, leaving 1,913 homes without electricity due to the rain and wind gusts hitting the community Monday night.

Public schools in Dover remain closed today, but all city offices and facilities resumed regular schedules, after closing early on Monday.

As a reminder, trick-or-treat for Dover has been rescheduled for Saturday, November 3, from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m.

To help residents who are clearing storm debris, the Recycling Center will open two additional days this week, on Wednesday and Friday 8:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. The Recycling Center will be open on the regularly scheduled days of Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday 8:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. Curbside trash and recycling pickup is not affected and will be picked up as scheduled.

Road closures and updated information can be found on the City's website at http://www.ci.dover.nh.us/ throughout the day.

At 2 p.m. Monday, the city closed all facilities and administrative offices. City Manager Michael Joyal said Community Services, police and fire crews continue to remain available to respond to assistance requests.

Residents are being asked to stay off the roads and prepare for severe weather and power outages. As of 7 p.m. Monday, Public Service of New Hampshire was reporting 1,104 customers without power in Dover.

Joyal wrote in a public statement Monday afternoon that Gov. John Lynch declared a state of emergency, closed state offices and was encouraging businesses to allow workers to travel home Monday afternoon and remain off the roadways throughout the height of the storm.

“As a result, all City of Dover administrative offices and recreation facilities will be closing at 2 p.m. this afternoon and are currently expected to reopen for regular operations Tuesday morning,” he wrote. “The effects of the storm for us here in Dover could possibly be downed trees creating potential for traffic hazards, damaged buildings and the resulting power outage events. Our streams and rivers should be able to handle the forecasted amount of rain at this time of year and flooding is not expected to be a big problem but we will be alert for any possible localized street and high tide related flooding.”

By Monday night wind gusts had approached 45 mph in Dover with intermittent periods of rain and the following roads had been listed as closed due to trees falling on electrical wires and other hurricane related activity: 134 Mount Vernon St. to Abitz Street, Oak Street from Portland Avenue to Atlantic Avenue and from Coolidge Avenue to Park Street, Tolend Road from Dean Drive to French Cross Road, 25 Sunset Drive to Cataract Avenue, a portion of Glen Hill Road is reduced to one land, and Nute Road.